A Heaven of Words

By Glenway Wescott, edited by Jerry Rosco
Reviewed by Angel Curtis

Glenway Wescott was an openly gay writer at a time when such a thing was simply not done. A contemporary and companion to Cocteau, Collette, and Capote, his journals evoke a time that, while long gone, is remembered with a vibrancy that feels like yesterday. Covering the years 1956–1984, these entries are the work of a master of the craft of self-examination and reflection, written from the perspective of mature experience. Brilliantly edited and loaded with photographs, this volume goes on the shelf with the best of those writers we call The Lost Generation. University of Wisconsin Press (uwpress.wisc.edu).